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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26155270">The Beginning of a Friendship</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarmillaCarmine/pseuds/CarmillaCarmine'>CarmillaCarmine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tenet (2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, First Meetings, M/M, Spoilers, Time Travel, Training</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:33:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26155270</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarmillaCarmine/pseuds/CarmillaCarmine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What was time for someone who knew it could be inverted?<br/>It was everything if you knew when and where the love of your life would die.<br/>Here is my version of the first time Neil met The Protagonist.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Neil &amp; The Protagonist (Tenet), Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>306</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>A Little Hope</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">

        <li>
          Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: 
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26286118">【AO3授權翻譯】一段友誼的開始 / The Beginning of a Friendship</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minerva_1122/pseuds/Minerva_1122">Minerva_1122</a>
        </li>


    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I came home from the cinema and typed this. It usually takes me weeks to decide to write something for a new fandom (is there even a fandom for this movie yet?), but here I am.<br/>There are SPOILERS here, obviously, so proceed at your own risk.</p><p>I’d love to hear what you think in the comments! Thanks for reading :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Neil, wait!” The realisation that Neil was on his way to die for this mission hit him like a freight train. He couldn’t let him do it. He wouldn’t. And yet, if he stopped him now, the mission would be a failure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neil turned around, frowning against the sun, as a look of concern passed across his face. He knew, oh God, somehow he knew what was about to happen, and he was still going to do it. They faced each other, surrounded by nothing but the sand and the whirring of helicopters gathering the rest of the crew after their completed mission.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve just saved the world, can’t leave anything to chance,” Neil yelled back. The matter-of-fact words were the exact opposite of the emotions that swam in The Protagonist’s heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, can we change things if we do it differently?” There had to be a way, and if there were, Neil would know of it. This couldn't be the end. Panic made him break in a cold sweat as he waited for the answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s happened, has happened; Which is an expression of faith in the mechanics of the world. It’s not an excuse to do nothing.” Neil spoke with such conviction; it was clear that he truly believed what he was saying.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Faith?” The Protagonist asked, confused. They were men of action, not of ideals and beliefs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Call it what you want.” Neil shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you call it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Reality?” Neil smiled, righting the wretched backpack on his right shoulder. God, that smile… A smile worth remembering for years to come. “Now let me go.” Neil turned around, walking away. There were so many unanswered questions. Too many to count.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you never did tell me who recruited you, Neil!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Haven’t you guessed it by now?” Neil asked with a sassy smirk. “You did. Only, not when you thought. You have a future in the past. Years ago for me. Years from now for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words felt like a blow, no, like an arrow through the heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve known me for years?” The Protagonist choked out, refraining from collapsing to his knees. However, he was unable to hold the tears that sprang into his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For me, I think it’s the end of a beautiful friendship,” Neil said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was goodbye. They both knew it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But for me, it’s just the beginning?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We get up to some stuff. You’re gonna love it.” Neil said with mirth, turning around again. “You’ll see.” He was walking away, and there was nothing else the Protagonist could do, except watch as Neil ran towards the helicopter, his hair blowing in the wind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It turned out, a desk job at MI6 was not as exciting a career as he’d thought it would be. Hours-long meetings and slaving over the computer screen made him wish for at least a taste of true espionage. When the MI6 building exploded, Neil’s last thought was that if he ever got another chance, he would take more risks and live a life of adventure and excitement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Neil’s eyes hurt from the bright light that seemed  determined to burn his retinas. Only after it dimmed was he able to open them properly. Between him and the light was a handsome, bearded face with deep-brown eyes looking back at him. The man was bathed in light, making him appear otherworldly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Welcome to the afterlife,” the man greeted him with a nod. His face was serious, and his eyes spoke of empathy, the likes of which Neil had never seen before. He tried to reach out to touch the dark skin of the angel above him when a sharp pain shot through his abdomen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahh,” he croaked, touching his ribs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You broke your arm and several ribs. You developed a haemothorax that they had to drain," the man informed him, worry clear in his voice as he reached for Neil’s hand to gently place it aside. “Don’t touch the sutures. I’ll explain everything once you feel better.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” Neil exclaimed, and shot his hand out to grasp the sleeve of the man’s perfectly tailored suit. Pain exploded in his body anew, but he held on, determined to know more. “Tell me now,” he croaked, gritting his teeth as he looked up to meet the man’s gaze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” the man said and Neil loosened his grip and released a pained breath. “Try to keep up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man rounded the bed to get a can of diet coke from the mini-fridge The fact that there was a fridge in his hospital room prompted Neil to look around and take in the state-of-the-art equipment. He would have only wished to get his hands on it all when he was a medical student for all of two years, prior to changing to physics.</span>
  <span> The room was unlike any hospital room he’d ever seen. It was clinical but clearly intended to put its occupant at ease. On the beige wall, there was a painting of a waterfall where a window should be, and a lone flower stood on a table in the corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bed dipped by his hip as the man sat down. He could have sat on a perfectly functional chair right beside it, but he’d chosen to enter Neil’s personal space. He didn’t mind, quite to the contrary; there was an ease and familiarity in the man’s movements that made Neil feel safe next to him. This might as well be a trick, a deception his gullible mind was reading as comfort, but his gut was telling him it was real. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d like to talk to you about time. Then you can ask me questions.” The man lifted one finger to stop Neil from speaking just yet. “I can’t promise to answer all of them, but I’ll try.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His deep voice was soothing to listen to, even when Neil’s head started swimming with the onslaught of information that was nearly impossible to grasp, even when explained with such expertise and clarity. Neil absorbed it all, sitting up as the fascinating tale unravelled. He knew what temporal movement was, but what he heard about was much more than that. Then there was Tenet itself, a mysterious word, behind which was an organisation with a strict code of conduct.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he hissed at the pain again, the man helped him sit more comfortably, lifting the end of the bed up and fixing the pillow. He touched Neil’s forearm in a gesture that should have been borne of familiarity. However, even if they’d just met, and the ease of the touch made little sense, it felt right. The hand remained there for a moment longer, the warmth of the touch calming Neil and grounding him in reality at the same time. The man spoke of reversing the flow of time with such passion that Neil was as fascinated by it as he was by the story itself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the end of the nigh-impossible tale, Neil’s head hurt even more than at the start. His heart hammered with excitement, while he tried to remain calm for the sake of the damage his body was still recovering from.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First of all,” Neil stated, when he was sure the man was done talking, “I won't believe a word you just said until I see some proof. Second, why are you telling me all this?” Neil was not the type of MI6 staff that could be expected to be offered special missions, not by the government, and not by any other organisations. He had little field training, and would have never even been considered a candidate for a staff member of MI6 at all if he’d ever been caught during his teenage burglary phase. The myriad questions that flooded his brain were intertwined with pure greed to take part in something bigger than himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man’s face grew serious as he seemed to consider what he was about to say. Neil sensed that there was even more to the complicated story than what he had just heard, but he had a feeling he was being eased in slowly. Finally, one corner of the man’s full lips lifted in a small smile before he spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s an important task before us, and I have it on good authority that you’re a very good lock-picker. I’d like you to work with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t lost on Neil that the man didn’t say to work </span>
  <em>
    <span>for</span>
  </em>
  <span> him, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>with </span>
  </em>
  <span>him. Somehow, it made all the difference.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m in,” he said with excitement and certainty that defied logic. “I mean, I will be, once I see proof of your tales for myself and stop thinking you’re insane,” he smirked, making the man chuckle—the warm, silky sound washing over him like a blanket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was more than ready to leave his old life behind, and seek adventure, even if it meant at the cost of harm coming to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even if I were, you’d still want a taste of this life,” the man said, turning off the phone that kept vibrating in the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He was clearly needed somewhere and the fact that he stood up and headed for the door confirmed it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He seemed like an important figure in this whole scheme, and Neil was just… no one compared to the little glimpse he got into whatever Tenet was. “But why me?” he asked, not understanding the reasoning behind his recruitment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I need someone I can trust,” the man said matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t even know me,” Neil scoffed, leaning back into the pillow. His appreciative gaze took in the entirety of the man, his polished shoes, expensive-looking suit, and black, perfectly groomed hair. He looked confident in his skin and Neil found himself allured by it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The small smile on the man’s face appeared to be hiding a million secrets, and Neil had the sudden urge to uncover every single one of them. His brain was now as tired as his body and the yawn that escaped him was a testament to that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get some sleep; we’ll talk more tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, will you at least tell me your name?” Neil asked, making the man turn around with his hand on the doorknob.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My name is who I am in this story,” he said slowly, his bearded chin up. “And I am The Protagonist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neil chuckled at that, but his laughter died when he realised the man was being serious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like the dramatics,” Neil said with honesty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I picked it up from a friend.” He said it in the same way he had talked about temporal pincer movement; as if the statement held something secret and exciting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Neil watched the Protagonist disappear through the door, a feeling of kinship came over him. He was looking forward to his return and a promise of getting to know him better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had a feeling about his new friend. It came from deep within him, and told him that it wouldn’t take long before he would be ready to die for The Protagonist;, die to save him. And once he did, he’d go without regrets.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm posting ch2 as I'm holding the bluray version of the movie. Happy digital/bluray release day!<br/>I hope you'll enjoy my take on the continuation of the events :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a fast-paced, busy, but painful three years, full of planning and organising. </p><p>Yet every single break, every crack in the meticulous process of setting up Tenet to be what he’d known it should be, was filled with the memories of the time he’d spent with Neil. </p><p>The detailed knowledge of the ins and outs of Neil’s death gnawed at him, causing countless nights of tossing and turning. When he did manage to sleep, he’d wake up soaked in a cold sweat and overwhelmed with the feeling of helplessness. </p><p>The only thing that saved him from going insane with guilt was his ability to focus on his job. Saving the world sounded like an over-exaggeration, but that was exactly what he’d been doing. It also ceased to be his job a long time ago. Instead, it became his life’s mission; a mission that transcended his existence and meant more than any personal feelings he could selfishly have. Or so he kept telling himself.</p><p>As time passed, the image of Neil’s face and his radiant smile stayed with him in the darkest of hours. He checked in on Neil discreetly, only to be sure he was safe, waiting for the perfect moment to approach him. Countless times he imagined the moment a younger Neil would meet him. Would it be in a bar, in a coffee shop, or on his way to work? All of those scenarios seemed like the wrong place and the wrong time. </p><p>Until finally, when digging through Neil's past, he found the best opportunity to recruit him as if it had served itself up on a silver platter, when some nut-job blew up the MI6 building. Maybe it was fate, but he’d learned that when everything pointed to an explanation as simple as that, it was definitely something much more than fate. Nothing was left to chance in the world he’d grown to know. </p><p>After three years of reliving the moment Neil had died in front of him, picking a<em> fucking </em> lock, he hoped his intense affection for his friend would have subsided. Neil had done what he had been recruited to do, but he did it with so much heart, belief, and flair, it made it difficult not to adore him.</p><p>The Protagonist was an excellent good liar. He’d been trained to be; it was the standard operating procedure. In fact, he was so good at it, he’d been able to lie to himself for weeks after Neil’s death. After a particularly difficult day in Hong Kong, he lay sprawled on the bed of his hotel room in the dead of night. He was glad the day’s mission that he’d planned for a month had succeeded. Each time his mind was clear of detailed planning for just a moment, he was free to go back to thinking of Neil. It was that night when he finally decided to stop lying to himself.</p><p>It was then when he finally broke. </p><p>He let his feelings come to the surface and allowed himself to weep, only to clean up the next day and pretend he was perfectly fine in a bespoke suit and chin held high.</p><p>Never could he have expected to mourn a friend so intensely. That was because Neil hadn’t been just a friend. He’d become so much more in his mind and in his heart. Maybe he’d been painting a picture of a perfect man who’d died to save the world. More likely, he’d been remembering a man who’d been such an expert lock picker, he managed to open his way into the Protagonist’s heart and steal it. </p><p>He’d almost hoped that upon seeing Neil in the flesh again, his feelings would dissipate, that he would see that the memory would be grander than the man himself.</p><p>He’d been such an idiot…</p><p>When Tenet was firmly set up, he knew it was time to live years inverted, in order to go through the damn rotating door just a few months before the explosion at MI6 to recruit Neil in person. He used the time to weave another thread through the fabric of the operations that had already been organised by him in the future.</p><p>-</p><p>Seeing Neil battered and bruised, just a few days after the explosion of the MI6 building, had brought back all the fond memories of their time together. Neil had been peacefully asleep as if nothing had ever happened to him. Because not much yet had, bar almost dying in an explosion...</p><p>He’d lain there as if he wasn’t destined to die on a mission in just a few years. As if the beginning that was also an end wouldn't rip out The Protagonist’s heart and soul. </p><p>Now, he knew that they had several years together in front of them. And then maybe more. He would figure something out to accomplish that; he definitely would.</p><p>Even if he shouldn’t. </p><p>Walking briskly towards Neil’s recovery room, The Protagonist looked around the underground fortress he had helped to plan and build. The light-blue walls and pristine white floors calmed him with the thought that the facility was complete.</p><p>It was the first of many he wanted to strategically place around the world. He equipped it in a state-of-the-art hospital wing and employed dedicated doctors for treating wounded operatives. Building it to bring Neil here when it was time was only a secondary motivating factor. Or so he’d told himself.</p><p>There were times he thought that the emotional attachment actually helped him think far ahead, years ahead, and he hoped that was true. </p><p>This place and this timeline were all he and Neil had. Even though he really wanted to behave like the professional he was, ignore emotions and attachment, he knew that his time with Neil was the one thing he was unable to sacrifice. </p><p>They were in a loop to be repeated, and that had to be enough. He was determined to make the most of the time he was about to have with his soon-to-be best friend. </p><p> </p><p>He opened the door to Neil’s hospital room as quietly as possible. This time, he sat in the chair by the bed, unwilling to disturb Neil’s sleep. His hair was not much longer than when they’d met before. Before -- for The Protagonist. It was long enough to fall over Neil’s eyes, and he let himself brush it to the side with the gentlest of touches. </p><p>Neil stirred but didn’t wake. He looked so peaceful as if he was not about to face the challenge of stopping the annihilation of humanity.  </p><p>Looking at Neil’s face, the Protagonist recalled the time he’d met Neil for the first time. </p><p>-</p><p>He had been crouching on the stairs of the Opera House when he’d felt a gun being pointed to the back of his head. He took a calming breath as he thought of a plan of action. </p><p>He hadn’t known him then, but it had been Neil, right in front of him, glancing at his watch when an inverted bullet had unlatched itself from the wood panel by the floor to hit the man who’d been holding the gun. The round pendant on a red string that had been swinging from Neil’s backpack had been a giveaway as to his identity.</p><p>After that, the Protagonist had to die for the world -- cease to exist on paper -- in order to finally meet Neil.</p><p>The first time he’d seen Neil’s face, he’d been on his first mission for Tenet. He’d been sitting in a wicker chair, not really knowing what to expect when a blonde stranger sat next to him and started talking. </p><p>“I’m Neil,” said the man in a pale, linen suit, extending his hand.</p><p>“I need an audience with Sanjai Singh,” the Protagonist said in lieu of a greeting. The handshake was brief and to the point. And maybe he just imagined that Neil’s hand lingered in the air for just a moment after. </p><p>“That’s not possible.” </p><p>“Ten minutes tops,” he insisted.</p><p>“Time isn’t the problem.”</p><p>The Protagonist had no idea how big of a problem, as well as a solution, time would come to be from that point on.</p><p>“Vodka tonic and a diet coke,” Neil said offhandedly to the passing waiter, as if he’d been ordering drinks for them both for years. Then he had the audacity to look innocent. God, he was a good liar, but couldn't help being sassy about it and planting little hints here and there. “What? You never drink on the job,” he’d said it as a fact, after receiving an inquisitive look from the Protagonist.</p><p>“You’re well-informed.” He couldn’t suppress the impressed tone in his voice. </p><p>“Well, it pays to be in our profession,” Neil smirked, then sipped his drink, his posture relaxed.</p><p>“Well, I prefer soda-water,” the Protagonist challenged, checking his new acquaintance’s reaction. </p><p>And then it happened. A light shone brighter in the already hot and sunny bar when Neil’s lips lifted into a smile. It was a small smile, born of amusement, followed by a short laugh, but it was enough to make warmth spread in the Protagonist’s chest.</p><p>“No, you don’t,” Neil said with surety. </p><p>It had been impossible not to release a chuckle, and smile at the man who had already possessed so much knowledge about him without yet giving anything in return.</p><p>Neil had appeared to be the light in a mission set to be quite challenging. It had been then and there that the Protagonist had decided to use that light as guidance. </p><p>That light had helped him through many dark days for years after that fateful day.</p><p>Neil’s quiet confidence had been what made him trustworthy, but it had been their bungee-jumpable mission that truly began their friendship. </p><p>-</p><p>Neil’s recovery room had been meticulously designed, just as the rest of the facility, but since the very start, the Protagonist had insisted for them not to have the air of a hospital about them. The lone green plant on the desk in the corner was far from accomplishing that, but there was little to be done for a recovery room. The regular quarters looked akin to sparsely furnished apartments, and Neil would soon be assigned one.  </p><p>Right now, sitting in Neil’s recovery room, the Protagonist revelled in the opportunity to look at his best friend up close after years of checking in on him from afar.</p><p>He looked different from that man he’d met at the bar that fateful day in Mumbai. With eyes closed, his long lashes danced on his pale cheeks as he dreamt. His beautiful face and lithe body were devoid of a few lines and scars he had yet to earn on the job. Neil was still a doe-eyed recruit, but the determination in him had already shone through when he’d woken up from his coma almost a month before.</p><p>Just as Neil had taught the Protagonist, it was his turn now to be the teacher. </p><p>The challenge now was to let their friendship develop naturally, without revealing his feelings too soon. He wanted Neil to know him as a friend, as a partner in the gigantic undertaking they were about to face together. If Neil never reciprocated the fire that had kindled between them before, it would be a great loss, but not a tragedy. The Protagonist valued their friendship above anything else.</p><p>The naivete still lingering in Neil would be gone, burned out by the hardships soon to come. </p><p>Wishing to kiss Neil’s forehead, but refraining, he stood up to leave and let the man rest. </p><p>“Hey, P! Wait!” Neil’s sleepy voice croaked as he sat up in bed and rolled his head. “I’m nearly recovered, and about to start physical training, but you still haven’t told me what the hell am I doing here. Well, not really.” </p><p>“P?” he asked with a frown and a chuckle of amusement. He liked the sound of that already; it felt so intimate. No one dared to call him anything but the Protagonist since he had taken a hold of his own mission. </p><p>“I can’t call you The Protagonist. It’s too long and pompous, come on.” Neil smiled, tossing his hair, a bit longer now and falling over his face. </p><p>“Right. But asking my name is too much, huh?” </p><p>“That is your name. That is who you are now; you told me that yourself. I respect that.”</p><p>The way in which Neil understood him, more profoundly than he’d ever understood himself, was astounding.</p><p>“Yeah, fine. You can call me that. But only when we’re alone.” The words came out before he thought of their consequence and heat spread through his body. He hoped Neil was oblivious to his reaction.</p><p>“Deal.” Neil shrugged and winced at the pain that must still linger in his ribs. “Now, will you answer my question?”</p><p>“You'll find out in due time. You have a lot to learn. Like not ask questions you're not ready to hear the answer to. Just… trust me, yeah?” The Protagonist took in Neil’s thoughtful expression as the man nodded. “I just hope you won’t regret me taking you away from your life.”</p><p>“Nah. What’s happened, happened.” Neil shrugged again, lighter this time and without a wince.</p><p>“Well then, I think you’re more prepared for this life than you realise,” he smiled, patting Neil’s shoulder gently, yet the touch scorched his fingers with a desire for more.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Hit me!” he barked at Neil, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet on the mats in the training centre. It’s been four months into Neil’s physical training, and the last several weeks they’ve been training together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to hurt you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You won’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did before,” Neil smirked, his lithe body moving, his plain t-shirt too loose to give a glimpse of what was underneath it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was distracted.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It cost you a black eye.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>P snorted softly. It had been worth the pain to get Neil to put a bag of peas over his swollen eye and hold it there. It was hard to resist Neil’s soft touch and brute care. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neil levelled a punch, but P grabbed him by the forearm and pulled. In another swift move, he sidestepped and threw Neil off balance with a shin kick to the back of the knee. With careful precision born of years of training, he then twisted and manoeuvred Neil down to the mat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Air whooshed out of Neil’s lungs at the impact and, for a second, P was concerned. Until a lovely laugh echoed in the spacious training room. Neil extended his hand and P took it to pull him up. </span>
  <span>Instead, Neil swept P’s legs from under him with a twist of his own</span>
  <span>. Startled, he tried adjusting his position not to fall gracelessly. Failing completely, he ended up sprawled on top of Neil, hands on both sides of Neil’s head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Horror filled him as he tried to scramble off, but the soft touch of Neil’s hand on his wrists prompted him to look down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neil opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then closed it. His heated gaze, however, conveyed his message with astounding clarity. Uncertainty was still there, lingering in the air, filled with a question. P swallowed audibly and frowned. He started to shake his head to say that they shouldn't, that Neil couldn’t possibly want it, but he nodded instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t try to understand it,” Neil whispered, his intense blue eyes seeing through P. “Feel it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Head spread in his abdomen and there were no words that he could possibly say in reply. All he could do was act.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaned closer, still watching Neil’s reaction, ready to pull away at any moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He never had the chance to, because Neil’s hand snapped to his nape to pull him down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their lips crashed hard and awkwardly before they both melted into the kiss. Soft lips met soft lips. Eager tongue met eager tongue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carnal hunger took over P’s body the likes of which he hadn’t felt in a while, if ever. He had to stay unmoving, not to grind himself on Neil’s leg like a horny teenager. Propped on his elbows, he slid his fingers into Neil’s hair, groaning into the kiss. An approving purr came from his friend and, holy hell, wasn’t it the most erotic sound he’d ever heard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their kiss slowed, but deepened, neither of them ready to stop as their bodies moved just slightly. Enough to fit better together, not enough to provide the necessary friction. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their lewd sounds were muffled by the kiss for a moment longer before P pulled away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can’t,” he breathed, knowing they absolutely had to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” Neil challenged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s unprofessional.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This had nothing to do with the job.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The job comes first.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know. But it’s nice to have someone to care about beyond it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lump in P’s throat prevented him from replying, so he just nodded once. ‘Care about’, not just ‘have fun with’, but… </span>
  <em>
    <span>Care about</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Getting to his feet, he had to adjust the erection that made him thankful for his loose sweatpants. When he reached to help Neil up, he was already standing and watching P with a sly smile on his face. God, the smile that sent P’s heart racing so often...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go. I’m starving,” Neil said, raking his graceful fingers through his hair. His body arched with the move and it was all P could do not to groan out loud at the images his head provided.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’d love to hear what you think in the comments! Thanks for reading :)</p><p>(Chapters 2-4 are drafted but it takes me a while to post, sorry. Please subscribe if you enjoyed the story so far. I want ch2 posted by 15 Dec for the Bluray release)</p><p>You can contact me on:<br/><a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sherlockedcarmilla">Tumblr</a><br/>or<br/><a href="https://twitter.com/CarmillaCarmin">Twitter</a><br/></p></blockquote></div></div>
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